Transit to Exuma - Emerald Bay

February 10, 2015

We are currently docked at Emerald Bay Marina in Exuma.

We did an overnight sail from Rock Sound, rather than splitting the trip into 2-3 day-trips, partly due to the available weather window and also just to cover ground quicker.  We will return later in the year to enjoy the northern Exumas.

The trip between Rock Sound and Emerald Bay is a little over 90 miles - too long for a day-trip, but actually a bit short for an overnight.  Thus we departed as late as possible and had to keep our speed down in order to arrive after the marina has opened.

We departed Rock Sound, Eleuthera a little after 4:00 PM on Sunday (2/8) allowing us to clear the Davis Channel and enter deep water before sunset.

The trip featured a little close-hauled (wind forward) sailing, but mostly motor-sailing as the wind decreased and clocked more on the nose.  We had a 4 foot wind-driven swell bouncing us around as we cleared the southern tip of Eleuthera and one significant squall, but overall it was a decent trip.

We approached Emerald Bay at around 9:00 AM on Monday while the marina area was experiencing a rain shower.  We killed a little more time to allow it to pass and had only a few sprinkles on arrival.

As we entered the marina, we were surprised by the level of activity - we had to wait 15 minutes to get some fuel before docking in our slip.   That activity, however, was just a prelude.  As a strong cold front was approaching on Tuesday, a 'record' 45  boats sought refuge in the marina.  This is our fourth stay here, and we have never seen it this busy!  Exuma is a wonderful place, but it features few spaces to weather a strong clocking cold-front, Emerald Bay being one.

In all our stays here, we have never seen ONE boat on this dock - today it is FULL.  It does not have electricity nor water and it is in the far reaches of the marina -  a looong walk to the bathroom, showers, and other amenities.

We have now caught up some on sleep and as I write this, the strong winds have arrived as predicted!

More to follow on our mainland Exuma adventures.

Tom
Docked Emerald Bay Marina

Rock Sound, Eleuthera

February 8, 2015

We have been anchored in Rock Sound, Eleuthera for a little over two weeks.  The weather has been a bit unsettled so we have had to spend more time on boat than we would like, but we still have had an enjoyable time.

As always, Sammy's Place is our hang-out here.  Featuring authentic Bahamian food and run by the friendly Culmer family, it is a great place to spend some time.  We were sad that Jan was off-island for our stay this year, but it did give us an opportunity to get to know Lisa and Margi better than on previous visits.  Mother Kathleen is still amazing, hitting the restaurant at 3-4 AM for prep-work, typically followed by a stint at her farm.

The most notable event of the stay was attending the breast cancer fundraiser sponsored by the women of several Rock Sound churches.  We have grown to expect that events in the Bahamas are more spiritual than you would expect in the States, but this was a full-blown night of praise and worship.  Led by Pastor Bradley of the Rock Sound Church of God backed by an awesome praise-band, the night was very enjoyable.  

However, we learned something about collections at Bahamian fund-raisers - there will be many more than one!  We had decided how much we were going to give and put it all in the first collection.  We were a little surprised when the collections kept on coming.  We ended up digging a little deeper on some following collections, but it is a good cause.

Joyce is a breast cancer survivor, and hearing about the lack of testing facilities made her thankful she had the medical care she did.  Even though it is one of the larger Family Islands, at this point it does not have a mammogram testing facility, and women must go to Nassau to get the exam.  This leads to many later-stage diagnoses.

Joyce joined two other survivors for a time of recognition late in the service - wish I had a picture!

We rented a car for two days allowing us to get some laundry done at the 3T's Laundromat run by the wonderful Willa Mae and her husband 'Showboat', provision at the Market Place, and have a great lunch at the Sky Beach Club, north of Governour's Harbour.

We have been told that it has been dry here, and it certainly has caused the flowering trees/shrubs to put on a great display of color.

We plan to leave here this afternoon (Sunday 2/8) for an overnight run down to Emerald Bay on Exuma.  The weather is less than ideal, but it appears it is the best window for a week or so.


Tom
Anchored Rock Sound, Eleuthera

Bahamian Rental Cars - Realizing what is really important

February 4, 2015

We occasionally rent a car on our travels through the Bahamas.   It makes things like doing laundry, getting groceries and other chores much easier.  We also find that you really cannot see the 'big islands' without an occasional car rental - it allows you to escape the 'cruiser's ghetto'.  So we have had a rental car from Dingle's Motors here in Rock Sound for the last two days.

Yesterday we drove to Sky Beach Club north of Govenor's Harbour for a great lunch.   After I remarked to Joyce that this was "the best rental car we have had this year",  it really struck me that 'we are no longer in Kansas Toto'.

First as a background, cars are expensive in the Bahamas.  Shipping and customs duties of 35-85% put the price of cars well above what they cost in the States.  Coupled with more modest incomes, cars tend to be smaller and older than typical in the States.

When I first looked over the Nissan Sentra rental, I was a little nervous.  Pressing on the  brake pedal produced a hissing sound as the pedal slowly sank.  Two of the well-worn tires were under-inflated and one showed a rather crude plug repair.  A loose shield or pipe produced a significant rattle as the motor speed increased.  The finish and interior were well worn.  I knew enough not to ask if the air conditioning works - it rarely does.  But the folks at Dingles are great and Mr. Cates himself put some air in two of the tires and I ventured off.

Remember when you had to crank the window up and down - welcome back!
Joyce, in particular, found the upholstery pattern 'eye-catching'

Air conditioning - nah, it rarely works. 

A little noisy, yes, and simple and worn around the edges; but the brakes worked fine, the transmission performed without any slippage, there were no warning lights about checking the engine or transmission  (I don't think this basic car even had any such lights), and the car handled well.    Far from luxurious, but it gets you where you need to go - what more would you want from a vehicle?  By Bahamian rental car standards, it was great.

Tom

Anchored Rock Sound, Eleuthera